1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floor silencer. More specifically, the present invention relates to a floor silencer that is used interposed between a floor carpet and a body panel of a vehicle, and has a foldable and band-like concave portion, wherein the floor silencer is capable of transport in a flat state and capable of assembly to a floor panel of the vehicle through folding along the band-like concave portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 13, related art uses a member in which a floor carpet 2 and a sound insulation material 4 made from non-woven fabric or the like are integrally joined as a vehicular floor material. Further, a floor panel 3 of the vehicle comes to have many members disposed thereon and a complicated shape. Therefore, in order to achieve a flat carpet surface and a sufficient cushioning property, a bulk material 5 is used in combination interposed between the sound insulation material 4 and the floor panel 3. The bulk material 5 employs a member (see Patent Document 1 for an example) that is made from integrally bonding chips of a resin foam body such as polyurethane foam using a binder made from resin fiber. In addition to its bulk function, the bulk material 5 also has sound insulating, cushioning, and other properties.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2001-60091
As noted above, the bulk material 5 and the member formed by joining the floor carpet 2 and the sound insulation material 4 are all made as separate bodies, after which these are transported from their respective production sites and integrally assembled to the floor panel 3 at the time of vehicle manufacture. Accordingly, the floor surface of the vehicle is made flat and the floor material also has sound insulating, cushioning, and other properties. However, the member formed by joining the floor carpet 2 and the sound insulation material 4 has a complicated shape that follows the floor panel and a considerable thickness, which result in low transport efficiency. Furthermore, if the joined sound insulation material 4 is made by laminating a plurality of non-woven fabrics, this leads to an increased number of components. Such a sound insulation material 4 consequently lowers the production efficiency of the floor carpet.
Hence, development of a floor silencer was undertaken that separates the sound insulation material from the floor carpet and instead integrally forms the sound insulation material with the bulk material. Thus, a process for joining the sound insulation material to the floor carpet is no longer required and results in improved transport efficiency of the floor carpet. Furthermore, since the sound insulation material and the bulk material overlap in terms of required functions, such as sound insulating, cushioning, and other properties, both can function the same as in the past even while using the same material and being integrally formed as a floor silencer. In related art, a plurality of bulk material is respectively disposed at required locations. However, this lowers the transport efficiency of the bulk material and also leads to poor workability during assembly. Using an integrally molded part of the same material can achieve a significant reduction in the overall number of floor material components, as well as greatly improve transport efficiency and assembly workability.
However, a conventional floor silencer made from integrating sound insulation material and bulk material has a complicated and three-dimensional shape that follows the floor panel as a necessity, even though this lowers transport efficiency.